Classic 'Raisin in the Sun' opening at Arena Stage

BEST BETS

May 11, 2000|By J. WYNN ROUSUCK

For the final production of its season, Arena Players is mounting Lorraine Hansberry's classic family drama, "A Raisin in the Sun." In 1959, this chronicle of the dreams of a family living on Chicago's South Side became the first Broadway play written by a black woman.

Arena's production, which opens tomorrow, is directed by William T. Brown, retired chairman of the theater department at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In his notes on the play, Brown writes: "Although written more than 40 years ago, the dreams and aspirations of this black family have not changed, nor have many of the obstacles." The cast is headed by Charisse Caldwell as matriarch Lena Younger, Mark Stevens and Maria Broom as her son and daughter-in-law, and Gloria Bigelow as Lena's daughter.